Superintendent claims he wasn’t aware of shock gloves used in schools, but emails say otherwise

OMAHA, Neb. (KETV) - Controversy is stirring in Nebraska over the use of shock gloves by school resource officers, stemming from two incidents in Omaha Public Schools last year.

The superintendent says he wasn’t aware the gloves were being used in schools. But emails obtained by KETV revealed communication about the gloves began years ago.

“The communication breakdown was not on the end of the Omaha Police Department, and I don’t think that has been fully fleshed out, and I’m a little disappointed in that,” said Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer.

“If something is added to a police officer’s belt or tools, ideally it should be communicated to central offices at the TAC building and involve the superintendent of Omaha Public Schools,” said Superintendent Matthew Ray.

More than once, Superintendent Matthew Ray has said he was not notified of the shock gloves, but another department head was.

“I think that’s a very salient piece to the decision makers on this front. They should have just come right out and said that rather than leave the aura that somehow we hit everybody with an ice cold bucket of water, which we did not,” said Schmaderer.

KETV Investigates was able to obtain email records confirming that an Omaha lieutenant emailed Millard, Westside, Elkhorn and Omaha Public Schools about the gloves.

In the emails obtained, Millard and OPS responded.

Millard’s director of student services questions how to navigate the gloves with schools’ “corporal punishment policies.”

The OPD lieutenant responds, citing an OPD policy section that permits the use of shock gloves and acknowledges they could “potentially result in not having to resort to a Taser, baton, strikes.”

The school safety supervisor for OPS responded, writing in part, “As a district we looked at it from the standpoint of this being a tool that PD determines is necessary for their law enforcement work.”

This is despite the top administrator saying he didn’t know these gloves were at work.

“It sure did identify that there’s some gaps in information that has flown through the organization or through the system,” said Ray.

Ray said that a school resource officer’s primary contact is with the school principal, and communication doesn’t necessarily have to go up the ladder.

“We’ll definitely have to review as a system where we fell short,” said Ray.

Now, Omaha police are navigating their relationship with the district.

“We are, we are frustrated in that because this is a vilification that was unnecessary and undeserving and up to this point has not been corrected,” said Schmaderer.